World Cup 1934 World Cup > Past Tournaments > 1934 Italy >Overview Nineteen thirty-four was a year of increased international tension compared to the year of the previous World Cup. Hitler had been in power in Germany since January 1933 and had already taken steps to secure the Anschluss (union of the dictatorships of Germany and Austria); which ultimately succeeded four years later, once “IL Duce” (the Leader) Mussolini Italy’s dictator swapped sides and backed Germany. This was the first time that a qualifying competition was held; this whittled down the number of contestants in the finals to sixteen, making Mussolini's promise to pay all the expenses of the competing teams more affordable. It was bizarre to see the United States play a qualifying match against its neighbour Mexico in Rome. Indeed, of the thirty-one teams in the qualifying competition, two, Chile and Peru, withdraw. Even the hosts Italy had to qualify. A mild surprise was occasioned when the Yugoslavia, who had been semi-finalists in the previous competition, were knocked out. Notwithstanding the larger number of entries, this tournament was still not particularly representative of the world of football, never mind the wider world.

The holders Uruguay, smarting from the lack of support shown by European teams four years earlier when the competition had been held in Uruguay’s capital Montevideo, declined to defend the title, a decision made easier by a players’ strike. The four British teams continued their refusal to compete when the boundaries between amateur and professional football were so blurred. Argentina, which had reached the final four years previously, deliberately sent a weakened team; this was out of pique as Mussolini, who had ruled Italy since 1922, had poached Monti, who had played in the previous final for Argentina, as well as Guaita and Orsi. The Argentines also feared that they would lose still further players to their Italian hosts. For the first time Africa sent a representative, Egypt, which had a small degree of autonomy within the British Empire. However, Asia’s massive population was not represented by even one team. The finalists were: Italy, the United States, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Germany, Belgium, Austria, France, Spain, Brazil, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Argentina, Hungary and Egypt. Hence there was one team from North America, two teams from South America, twelve from Europe and one team from Africa.

As lopsided a list as four years before, save the Latin and European misrepresentations had been flipped. A regressive step was to adopt the cheaper format of a knockout competition all the way to the final. There was more than a hint of favouritism in the refereeing; Mercet of Switzerland was later suspended by the Swiss FA for the blatant pro-Italian nature of his decision-making. The Swedish referee Eklind was accused of meeting up with Mussolini before matches. Germany had to come back against Belgium in the first round, and Switzerland and Sweden had to battle to defeat the Netherlands and Argentina respectively; nonetheless the form book was more or less observed. A warning sign was the 7-1 demolition by Italy of one of the previous competition’s semi-finalists: the USA. For the first time all the non-European teams had been knocked out at the first hurdle, which would probably not have happened had Argentina been at full strength and Uruguay had entered. The quarter finalists were: Italy, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden and Hungary.

Austria and Hungary had been the pillars of the Dual Monarchy, which had been created in 1867 and had lasted until 1918; the Dual Monarchy being established by the Hapsburgs to maintain their historic central European Empire after defeat by Prussia at Sadowa (modern name Sadova in the Czech Republic) in 1866. Thus their quarterfinal pairing was not a happy one, being less than one generation away from the Treaty of Trianon, which finally dissolved the Hungarian component of that empire. Meisl the Austrian manager had a big international reputation, his side, known as the ”Wunderteam”, had lost to England (one of only two defeats) 4-3 in December 1932, but had clearly been the better team in the second half; they were widely considered the strongest continental side, which was part of the cause for Italian enthusiasm in discovering Argentine “Italians”. Just after half time in their quarterfinal match Austria led 2-0, at which point the match descended into a brawl; Hungary benefited by winning a penalty.

Eventually, the Hungarian winger Marcos was sent off, enabling Austria to hang on to their 2-1 lead: a big change from the 8-2 trouncing of Hungary administered two years previously. Italy rode her luck in her quarterfinal match against Spain. In the first match Spain took the lead after a a mis-hit free kick freakishly resulted in a goal. Brutal play from Italy did not seem capable of securing an equaliser in front of the thirty-five thousand partisan crowd until luck intervened. This remained the score line, so the match had to be replayed. In the replay no less than seven Spanish players had to be dropped as a result of injuries inflicted by the Italian players. Forty-three thousand screaming Italian fans witnessed a goal from Meazza after only twelve minutes, which goal proved to be the only one, helped in no uncertain manner by the Swiss referee, who contrived not to notice the blizzard of potentially crippling Italian fouls. Giuseppe Meazza, the scorer of this goal, was one of the few bright sparks in this Italian team. Born in 1910, Meazza was initially part of Inter Milan’s formidable defence before he graduated to his true métier: an out and out striker.

In the 1934 World Cup Vittorio Pozzo Italy’s manager positioned Meazza as an inside striker, i.e. as a link man between midfield and attack. He was part of two successful World Cup squads, those of 1934 and 1938. His career included two league title successes in 1930 and 1938. He was to score 243 goals for Inter and played some 361 games for the club. Milan’s Guiseppe Meazza stadium is named after him. Meazza was to win 53 caps for Italy, scoring a total of 33 goals; totals that would have been far bigger had not injury blighted his career in 1938 after the World Cup. Meazza’s last international appearance was against Finland in Helsinki in 1939, a match which Italy won 3-2. Switzerland were defeated by Czechoslovakia 3-2 in a seesaw match in which the lead changed hands several times. The Czechoslovaks holding in confidently for the final ten minutes after they took the lead for the last time in the game.

A small crowd of only three thousand saw Germany overcome Sweden 2-1 after a goal less first half. Semi-finals With the crowd and the referee on her side, Italy also received an assist from the weather; the rain created a heavy pitch that was most disagreeable for the more skilful Austrians. In the event, one of the Argentine “Italians” Guaita scored the decisive goal after eighteen minutes play. The best Austrian opportunity same right at the finish, when a shot was scuffed wide. Thus, not for the first time, a skilful short passing side was overcome by more brutal opposition. The Czechoslovaks initially walked all over Germany, their half-time lead of just one goal not being anywhere near justice in terms of their superiority. Unfortunately, complacency set in at the start of the second half, which enabled Germany to score a freakish equaliser. Germany then very nearly scored again, which finally awoke the Czechoslovaks from their torpor. Nejedly scoring twice more, in addition to his first half strike, for the Czechoslovaks to achieve a score line that more accurately reflected the margin of their superiority.

The Czechoslovaks were also aided by their players greater familiarity, the team being drawn from only two clubs: Sparta and Slavia. On 10 June 1934, a crowd of fifty-five thousand witnessed the host nation Italy take the field against the more skilful players of Czechoslovakia. Would Mussolini achieve his propaganda coup with a pliant referee and a partisan crowd? At first it did not look so as the Czechoslovaks withstood juddering stops and crunching tackles to impose a short passing game. Nonetheless, the pretty patterns on the pitch did not translate into goals, not until more than twenty-five minutes had elapsed in the second half. At which point the Italians started to assert themselves. After eighty-one minutes Orsi, yet another of the Argentine “Italians”, scored a freakish goal, feinting with his left and scoring with his right; a goal which he was unable to reproduce before expectant journalists the following day despite twenty attempts! The match went into extra time, which greatly favoured the physically more robust Italians. Finally the non-Argentine Schiavio scored. © 2006 World Cup Years Ltd.

The 1934 World Cup – Soccer Politics / The Politics of Football Written in 2009 by Emma Anspach, Hilah Almog, and Taylor. Edited & Updated in 2013 by Brittney Balser and Alessandro Santalbano *** The second World Cup was held in Italy, an honor the relatively young Italian fascist regime worked hard to attain. Mussolini was not the first leader to see the political usefulness of sport, Stalin had made wide use of it within the Soviet Union, but while Stalin refused to let the USSR’s athletes compete internationally, Mussolini saw international competition as a powerful nationalist propaganda tool. The 1934 football World Cup took place between May 27 and June 10, 1934 in eight Italian cities: Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Rome, Trieste, and Turin. [1] Thirty-two teams, including the host nation who did not yet automatically qualify, entered the qualifiers. [2] Sixteen teams made it through to the actual tournament.

[3] Italy eventually won the final against Czechoslovakia with a two to one come from behind victory at the Stadio Flaminio or Fascist National Party Stadium in Rome on June 10. [4] This World Cup triumph would be but one in a string for Italy who went on to win the gold medal in football at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and become the first repeat champions in World Cup history with a victory in 1938. The World Cup victory in 1934 has entered into the world of Italian legend, “In truth, however, very little is known about the games themselves.” [5] Without television, except for those who saw matches in person, the reality of the games was largely shaped by the media personalities and press that reported on the matches. In Italy, this largely meant a very nationalistic interpretation of the events by the Fascist controlled media. The 1934 World Cup Poster One of the more hard fought contests was the quarterfinal between Italy and Spain.

It was one of the most physical games of the tournament and Belgian referee Louis Baert, “let many fouls go unpunished.” [6] Many argue that this officiating played to the favor of the Italians. Gianni Brera, an Italian football journalist, later wrote of the match, “the referee Baert behaved as if he was well aware where the game was taking place.” [7] The match ended in a one to one tie. Questions of biased officiating escalated with the replay of the quarterfinal—the first replay in World Cup history—where the game winning goal by Guisseppe Meazza could have been disallowed. [8] Still, as John Foot points out, possibly legitimate claims of bias toward the host nation by officials is not something unique to the Fascists or this World Cup. The semifinal between Italy and Austria took place in a downpour at San Siro stadium in Milan in front of 60,000 fans. [9] The Match against the Austrian “Wunderteam,” “had all the talent and intensity of a final.” [10] The Italians were able to muster a one to nil victory and were through to face Czechoslovakia in the final in Rome.

The night before the match Mussolini himself game the Azzurri a pep talk. He urged, “If the Czechs play fair, we’ll play fair. That’s the most important thing, but if they want to play dirty, then we Italians have to play dirtier.” [11] After seventy scoreless minutes, the Czechs went ahead with a goal from Puc off of a corner. [12] With ten minutes left to play the Italians equalized with a score by Orsi off of a pass from Guaita. [13] It wasn’t until early in overtime that the decisive goal was scored. An injured Meazze was left unmarked and was able to initiate a play that went through Guaita and then to Schiavio for the championship winning goal in the 95th minute. [14] As time expired, Vittorio Pozzo was carried off the pitch by his players. [15] (Clips from the 1934 World Cup Final between Italy and Czechoslovakia) Mussolini stood and applauded his Azzurri from the stands.

After the match, Mussolini’s newspaper Il Popolo d’Italia described the moment, “In the name and in the presence of the Duce, the azzurri win a new world title.” [16] This World Championship would be but the first in an unprecedented string of victories for the Italian national team under Mussolini’s Fascist rule. (Clips from Italian matches throughout the 1934 World Cup) The History of the World Cup in 20 Charts | FiveThirtyEight The History of the World Cup in 20 Charts Jun 12, 2014 at 3:13 PM The History of the World Cup in 20 Charts Email Brazil, the World Cup host and the clear favorite (in our view ), will start off the tournament Thursday with a match against Croatia. Soon after, 30 other countries will take to the pitch with varying prospects of achieving their World Cup dreams. See the FiveThirtyEight World Cup predictions for more on that. But first: a brief tour of World Cup history. We wanted to answer a few basic questions: How often do favorites win? How often do host nations win?

Is the spread of soccer talent throughout the world becoming more top-heavy or more even? More Sports The 20 charts below provide some answers. They rank each team that entered the World Cup based on its Elo ratings before the tournament . These Elo ratings, which were adopted from a system developed for chess , have relatively little meaning in an absolute sense. We could say, for example, that Italy has an Elo rating of 1879 — but it’s not clear what you’d do with that. The Elo system is set up such that the average team has a rating of 1500. There are more than 200 countries that field national soccer teams, however, so being average (as Cape Verde or Trinidad and Tobago are, according to Elo) won’t normally get a team into the World Cup field, much less win it the trophy. So instead we’ve compared each team’s rating with that of the 32nd-best team in the world, according to Elo (whether or not team No. 32 qualified for the World Cup), at the time the World Cup began.

1 The 32nd-best team has gotten quite a bit better over the years, having gone from an Elo rating of 1540 in 1930, to one of 1707 this year. (The 32nd-best team in the world is currently Costa Rica, according to Elo.) Of course, the field has also expanded — from 13 teams in 1930 to 32 in World Cups played since 1998. The charts include one other important adjustment: We’ve given a 100-point bonus, in accordance with the Elo system’s recommended value , to the host nation. 2 The 1930 World Cup, the first on our tour, was one where the home-nation adjustment makes a difference. Held in Uruguay, it was composed mostly of teams from the Americas; few European nations were willing to make the journey. Argentina and Uruguay were the two best teams in the field by some margin, with Argentina just slightly ahead in the Elo ratings. But Uruguay’s home-nation status was enough to make it the favorite. The two met in the finals in Montevideo, with Uruguay winning 4-2.

More surprising: The United States and Yugoslavia won their groups and advanced to the semifinal, ahead of the higher-rated Brazil and Paraguay. Italy played host to the 1934 World Cup. Several South American teams, including Uruguay, declined to participate, as did the countries of the United Kingdom. Overall, however, the field was deeper and had more parity than four years earlier. Italy, Argentina and Austria would essentially have been co-favorites before the tournament began, with Italy slightly ahead on the basis of the home-country effect. Indeed, Italy won. Italy was also the favorite in the 1938 World Cup, which was played in France under the cloud of creeping European fascism. Italy was a clear favorite because Argentina, No. 2 in the Elo ratings at the time and disappointed that Europe had hosted two World Cups in a row, refused to participate. Italy won, keeping the streak alive for Elo favorites. But when the World Cup returned in 1950 after a 12-year hiatus because of World War II and its aftermath, there was a surprise in store. Brazil hosted the tournament and, with its home-country boost, would have been the slight favorite per Elo.

But it was a deep field — with England participating for the first time, and strong entrants from Italy, Sweden and several other countries (although Argentina again declined to enter). Uruguay, just the ninth-best team in the field, according to Elo, prevailed in a famous upset . We’ll accelerate our pace a bit now that we’ve gotten the hang of this. The 1954 World Cup, held in Switzerland, featured another famous upset in the final, with West Germany defeating heavily favored Hungary in the so-called Miracle of Bern. The 1958 World Cup featured a deep and competitive field. Hungary or Argentina would probably have been the favorite, but Brazil and England were not far behind them. Brazil won for the first time. This touched off Brazil’s golden era, helmed by its star Pelé. The team entered the 1962 World Cup in Chile as the favorite, and it won — marking the last time a team has won two consecutive World Cups. By 1966, Brazil’s Elo rating had slipped closer to the rest of the world. Among a deep group of contenders, England would have been the Elo favorite because of its host-nation status. And just this once, England won.

The 1970 World Cup, held in Mexico, featured one of the deepest fields ever. England was nominally the favorite again, according to Elo, but five other countries were within 100 points of it — including the eventual winner, Brazil. The 1974 World Cup, by contrast, had a relatively clear favorite. West Germany and Brazil were the best teams in the world by some margin, but West Germany, led by Franz Beckenbauer and having built momentum by winning the 1972 European Championships, played host to the tournament and won. The 1978 World Cup, held in and won by Argentina, is one of the least fondly remembered. Argentina was ruled by a military junta, which had come to power in 1976 after the overthrow of Isabel Perón. That World Cup has also long been associated with accusations of match-fixing . Was Argentina’s home-country advantage, for whatever reason, larger than usual? It’s hard to say; Argentina was a good team on its football merits, and the customary 100-point home-country boost would have put it in a group of front-runners that included West Germany, the Netherlands and Brazil.

Spain hosted the World Cup in 1982; West Germany and Brazil would have been the favorites, according to Elo. Instead, it was Italy — just the 12th-best team in the field — that won. The 1986 World Cup initiated an era of relative parity. It would have been hard to pick a favorite: 14 teams, including the host, Mexico, were stacked within 140 Elo points of one another, and they weren’t that far ahead of some of the also-rans. Argentina won, not uncontroversially, on Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal . The 1990 World Cup also featured a fairly flat distribution of talent, although the host, Italy, would have been the nominal favorite on the basis of the home-country advantage. West Germany won instead after a low-scoring and poorly played World Cup. The World Cup returned to the Americas in 1994, when it was held in the United States. This was perhaps the first time that the host nation had no real chance of winning; the U.S. was rated as just the 18th-best team, despite its home-country boost.

Much like the 1986 tournament, there was a large group of good-but-not-great teams atop the field. The Brazilian team, led by Romário and Bebeto, won in Pasadena, California, after Roberto Baggio’s penalty kick sailed over the crossbar . The 1998 World Cup featured co-favorites, according to Elo: France and Brazil were tied in Elo entering the tournament (after giving France its 100-point home-country bonus). Those two teams met in the final, and France won 3-0. The 2002 World Cup, co-hosted by Japan and South Korea, was one of the oddest tournaments. France was the best team entering the tournament, according to Elo, but it went winless in the group stage. The final featured some customary names — Brazil and Germany, with Brazil winning — but neither the Brazilian or German teams were especially strong by the Elo ratings. Turkey took third place despite being just the 23rd-best team in the field. The 2006 World Cup also featured a great deal of parity, with at least 10 plausible winners, including the host, Germany.

It was Italy who prevailed over France on penalties in a final remembered for Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt . The past two World Cups, however, have seen a reversal in the trend of greater equality among footballing nations. Brazil and Spain entered the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as the front-runners, with Brazil just two points ahead of Spain in Elo entering the tournament. In the final, Spain defeated the Netherlands, ranked third in the world per Elo. That brings us back, finally, to this year’s tournament. Here are the Elo ratings, and then a few closing observations. Brazil is the best team in the world, according to Elo, as it is in our Soccer Power Index. There have been several other times when a home country was close enough to the top in Elo that it would have been the favorite after accounting for its home-country bonus. However, this is the first time the No. 1-ranked Elo team also played host. That gives Brazil a significant edge on the rest of the field.

In fact, the 506-point gap between Brazil (accounting for its home-country bonus) and the 32nd-best team in the world (Costa Rica) is the largest ever in the World Cup. The 127-point gap between Brazil and the second-best team, Spain, is the second-largest after Italy in 1938. That’s not to say Spain, Argentina and Germany are poor teams. Spain’s Elo rating — 379 points ahead of the No. 32 team — would have made it the favorite in any World Cup played from 1986 through 2010. Argentina and Germany are strong enough that they would have been the favorites in a number of recent World Cups as well. Any of them would be a worthy champion, but they’ll have to get by Brazil. Footnotes We only collected Elo ratings data on the teams that qualified for the World Cup. Sometimes, the team ranked No. 32 in the world was not among them. Therefore, we extrapolated the rating for the No. 32 team by looking at others ranked close to that threshold — for example, by taking the average of the Nos.

30 and 34 teams’ Elo ratings if both teams qualified. This adjustment may be too conservative , especially for the earlier years of the competition. Allison McCann is a former visual journalist for FiveThirtyEight. @atmccann Nate Silver is the founder and editor in chief of FiveThirtyEight. @natesilver538 Football World Cup winners list | FIFA soccer WC champion teams, history Football World Cup winners list Published on Jun 20, 2014 Take a close look at the greatest football teams on earth: the FIFA World Cup champions. The World Cup, also known as the Mundial or Copa do Mundo, has been held 19 times since it inaugural tournament in 1930. It has been won by eight different teams, with Brazil having the most World Cup titles with five, followed by Italy with four, and West Germany with three. Argentina and Uruguay have two titles each while England, France, and Spain have one title. Below is a year-by-year account of all the World Cup champion teams.

1930 FIFA World Cup Final score: Uruguay 4-2 Argentina Host country: Uruguay The 1930 World Cup was staged in Uruguay and it was the host country that won the championship. In the final match, the Uruguayans saw themselves trailing behind Argentina by 2-1 but managed to turn things around in the second half by scoring three goals. Uruguay became the first World Cup winner with a 4-2 score. 1934 FIFA World Cup Final score: Italy 2-1 Czechoslovakia (Extra time) Host country: Italy The 1934 World Cup was once again won by the host country and this time it was Italy that took the trophy. Playing against Czechoslovakia, Italy imposed a very tough defense but the visiting team breached the Italian line in the 70th to lead 1-0. Italy retaliated to make the game 1-1 before the end of regulation and bagged the win in overtime by a 2-1 tally. 1938 FIFA World Cup Final score: Italy 4-2 Hungary Host country: France Italy retained its crown in the 1938 World Cup in France.

In the final match against Hungary, the Italians broke clear with a 3-1 score at halftime and finished the game 4-2. 1950 FIFA World Cup Final score: Uruguay 2-1 Brazil Host country: Brazil The World Cup was not staged again until 1950 because of the Second World War. Played in Brazil, this edition of the Mundial saw one of the biggest upsets in football history when the host country lost to the Uruguay football team. Brazil was highly favored to win in the final match with Uruguay, which was lowly rated after not qualifying in the two previous World Cups. The Brazilians scored two minutes into the second half and everything seemed to be going well for them. However, Uruguay tied on the 66th minute mark and scored anew on the 79th to steal the 1950 World Cup trophy. 1954 FIFA World Cup Final score: West Germany 3-2 Hungary Host country: Switzerland The 1954 World Cup saw another major upset: In the group stage, the Hungarians trashed West Germany 8-3 and was highly favored to win when the two teams met again in the final.

Scoring two goals after only eight minutes, the Hungarian football team looked like they were on a smooth way to the Mundial trophy. However, West Germany equalized within the first half and, just five minutes before the end of regulation, broke away with another goal to win 3-2. 1958 FIFA World Cup Final score: Brazil 5-2 Sweden Host country: Sweden Host Sweden matched up against Brazil in the final of the 1958 World Cup. The Swedish football team opened the scoring but found themselves trailing by 2-1 at the end of the first half. Brazil played top-class football for the rest of the second half and finished the game 5-2. Brazil’s successful campaign was spurred by one of the greatest footballers in history , Pele, who played his first Mundial in this year. 1962 FIFA World Cup Final score: Brazil 3-1 Czechoslovakia Host country: Chile In the 1962 World Cup, Brazil faced Czechoslovakia in the final match without its goal-scoring genius, Pele, as he was injured in the first round.

The Czechoslovakians struck the first goal but the Brazilians showed their offensive flare to emerge as victors with a 3-1 score. This was the second of five World Cup trophies in the Brazilian football team’s history. 1966 FIFA World Cup Final score: England 4-2 West Germany (Extra time) Host country: England England faced West Germany at the final of the 1966 World Cup. The Germans found the back of the net first but the English equalized by halftime, 1-1. In the second half, the English pulled away with a goal’s lead but West Germany scored before the end of regulation to take the game into overtime with a 2-2 score. Englishman Geoff Hurst, who had one goal in regulation, scored twice in overtime to make England World Cup winners and to become the only player ever to score a hat trick in a Mundial final. The 1966 victory is the only World Cup trophy in the English football team’s history as of present. 1970 FIFA World Cup Final score: Italy 3-1 West Germany Host country: Spain The 1982 World Cup title is the third of Italy.

It was not an easy one, as the Italians barely survived elimination in the first round. The first half of the final game did not prove to be inspiring either, as Italy missed a penalty that would have opened the scoring. However, Italy managed to squeeze a goal on the 56th minute and followed it up with two more goals to lead 3-0. West Germany scored a goal in the 82nd minute to finish the game honorably, 3-1. 1986 FIFA World Cup Final score: Brazil 0-0 Italy (3-2 pen) Host country: United States The 1994 World Cup, held in the United States, is the fourth occasion that Brazil would rip the highest honor in football. In the final match, neither Brazil nor its opponent, Italy, scored in the regulation and extra periods so the game was forced into a penalty shootout. Both sides missed on their first attempt but Brazil converted its following shots while Italy suffered two more misses to lose 3-2 in the shootout. The biggest disappointment came to Italian football hero Roberto Baggio, who led his team throughout the tournament only to miss his chance from the penalty spot in the final game.

1998 FIFA World Cup Final score: France 3-0 Brazil Host country: France The 1998 World Cup trophy was competed between 32 teams and it was France that emerged triumphant. The French survived the quarter finals through a penalty shootout against Italy and defeated Croatia in the semis with a 2-1 score. They went on to the final to square up with Brazil. The final belonged to French football legend Zinedine Zidane who scored two goals in regulation to make victory imminent for the host country. His efforts were complemented by Emmanuel Petit, who added another goal in stoppage period. The match ended 3-0 for the first World Cup title in France’s football squad history. 2002 FIFA World Cup Final score: Brazil 2-0 Germany Host country: South Korea & Japan The 2002 World Cup was the first to be held in Asia and saw Brazil become the winner once again. Ronaldo scored both of Brazil’s goals to surge pass Germany 2-0 in the final match.

The brilliant striker finished as 2002 top scorer but it was the football goalkeeping legend Oliver Kahn of Germany who bagged the award for the tournament’s best player, the Golden Ball. (This World Cup, with Korea and Japan as hosts, is the first to be hosted by two nations.) 2006 FIFA World Cup fifa world cup 1934 - Historical Football Kits Historical Football Kits FIFA World Cup 1934 Like the Berlin Olympics that would follow two years later, the 1934 World Cup in Italy was a highly politicised event intended to showcase fascism abroad and secure support for the regime at home. A qualifying competition was organised to reduce the original 32 entrants to 16 but there were some notable absentees. The reigning champions, Uruguay, did not enter in retaliation for the refusal of European teams to travel to the inaugural tournament four years earlier while the UK associations continued their splendid isolation. Chile and Peru withdrew so Argentina and Brazil qualified without playing a match. Italy were required to qualify even though they were hosts and we can only imagine what would have happened had they lost their preliminary match against Greece.

Twelve places were reserved for European teams, three for the Americas and one for Africa/Asia. Mexico and the United States met in Rome three days before the start of the competition for a play-off to decide the last remaining place. The tournament was organised as a straight forward knock-out competition: hard luck if you travelled half way round the world and were knocked out in your first match. Extra time would be played if the scores were level after 90 minutes and if the match was still drawn a replay held the following day. I am grateful to Glen Isherwood for sharing his research. Please contact me with corrections or additions. History of FIFA - The first FIFA World Cup™ - FIFA.com History of FIFA - The first FIFA World Cup™ © FIFA.com The success of the Olympic Football Tournament intensified FlFA's wish for its own world championship. Questionnaires were sent to the affiliated associations, asking whether they agreed to the organisation of a tournament and under what conditions. A special committee examined the question, with President Jules Rimet the driving force. He was aided by the untiring Secretary of the French Football Federation, Henri Delaunay.

Following a remarkable proposal by the Executive Committee, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam on 28 May 1928 decided to stage a world championship organised by FIFA. Now, the organising country had to be chosen. Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden submitted their candidatures. Right from the start, Uruguay was the favourite and not simply for its Olympic gold medal wins in 1924 and 1928 - the country was celebrating its 100th anniversary of independence in 1930 at great expense. Moreover, its national association was willing to cover all the costs, including the travel and accommodation of the participating teams. Any possible profit would be shared, while Uruguay would take on the deficit. These arguments were decisive. The FIFA Congress in Barcelona in 1929 assigned Uruguay as first host country of the FIFA World Cup ™. The other candidates had withdrawn. With Europe in the midst of an economic crisis, not everything went to plan during the countdown to these first finals. Participation did not only involve a long sea journey for the Europeans; the clubs would have to renounce their best players for two months.

Consequently, more and more associations broke their promise to participate and it took much manoeuvring by Rimet to ensure at least four European teams - France, Belgium, Romania and Yugoslavia - joined him on the Conte Verde liner bound for Buenos Aires. The first FIFA World Cup opened at the brand-new Estadio Centenario in Montevideo on 18 July 1930. It was the beginning of a new era in world football and the inaugural event proved a remarkable success, both in a sporting and a financial sense. Of course, the organisers were disappointed that only four European sides had participated. The anger in Montevideo was so intense in fact that four years later, world champions Uruguay became the first and only team to refuse to defend their title. When the Congress convened in Budapest in 1930, it thanked Uruguay for staging the world championship for the first time in difficult conditions. It also noted its regret at seeing only a minimum number of teams participating from Europe. The significance of the new tournament only increased following the setback FIFA suffered in the lead-up to the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

After failing to settle differences of opinion over the amateur status of footballers with the International Olympic Committee regarding the amateur status of football players, plans to organise the Olympic Football Tournament were abandoned. FIFA chose Italy ahead of rival candidates Sweden to host the second FIFA World Cup and this time it took qualifying matches to arrive at the 16 finalists. Unlike in 1930 there were no groups and only knockout rounds, meaning Brazil and Argentina went home after playing just one match each. Once again, the home team prevailed, Italy winning the Final against Czechoslovakia in extra time. For the first time, the Final was transmitted on the radio. Four years later, Rimet saw his wish fulfilled when the third FIFA World Cup took place in France, his home country. Again not everything ran according to plan: Austria had disappeared from the scene and so Sweden did not have an opponent in the first round. Uruguay still did not wish to participate and Argentina withdrew. This is why the national teams from Cuba and the Dutch East Indies came to France. This time, there was no home victory and Italy successfully defended their title. The FIFA World Cup should have taken place for the fourth time in 1942 but the outbreak of World War Two meant otherwise.

Although FIFA maintained its Zurich offices throughout the conflict, it was not until 1 July 1946 in Luxembourg that the Congress met again. Thirty-four associations were represented and they gave Rimet, who had been President for a quarter of a century already, a special Jubilee gift. From now on, the FIFA World Cup trophy would be called the Jules Rimet Cup. As the only candidate, Brazil was chosen unanimously to host the next FIFA World Cup, to be staged in 1949 (and postponed to 1950 for time reasons). At the same time, Switzerland was given the option for 1954. History of FIFA World Cup 2018 and 2022: every country which has ever hosted the championship | News | theguardian.com Blog home World Cup 2018 and 2022: every country which has ever hosted the championship Russia has been unveiled as the host for the 2018 Fifa World cup, but which countries have had the honour in the past? • Get the data The 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cup hosts have been announced as Russia and Qatar.

Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images The World Cup host's for 2012 and 2022 have been announced today dashing all hopes for the English bid. Football will not be coming home in eight years time, after it emerged England had crashed out in the first round of voting, securing just two votes, and the tournament was instead awarded to Russia . The 2018 host has been announced as Russia and Qatar are to host the championship in 2022. So which countries have held the prestigious World Cup in the past? France, Germany, Italy and Mexico have all hosted twice and the European zone has notched up the most with twelve European countries winning the bids since 1930. South America follows, managing to win five bids over the past 80 years and holding the honour of hosting the next world cup in Brazil in 2014. Qatar will be up in 2022 - in a first for the Middle East. We have listed each host country since 1930 along with ISO codes and Fifa geographic zones. Download the data for yourself - and let us know what you can do with it.

FIFA World Cup history FIFA World Cup history Last Updated: Monday, June 09, 2014, 13:19 The Competition and Countries The inaugural FIFA World Cup was held in and won by Uruguay in 1930. Uruguay, then the best footballing nation -- having already won the Olympic competitions in 1924 and 1928 -- defeated Argentina in the final. The first World Cup was competed by 13 countries. And thus started an enduring saga of man celebrating life never before. Ever since, the greatest spectacle on earth is held every four years, except during the intervening years of the Second World War, in 1942 and 1946. Known as the Finals, the competition lasts about a month, with the qualification competitions held for each confederation(s) over the preceding years. Only eight countries have ever won the competition. Brazil, which host the 20th edition starting June 12, have won a record five times. They have also scored the most World Cup goals, with 210. Italy follow with four titles, then Germany (as West Germany) with three.

Argentina and Uruguay have each won twice and England, France and Spain (holders) once each. Germany have played the most World Cup matches, with 99 which includes seven finals. The Netherlands lost all their three finals in 1974, 1978 and 2010. The number of competing teams increased to 16 in the 1934 World Cup in Italy, then to 24 in the 1982 edition in Spain. Now, it`s a 32-team format which was first incorporated in 1998, France. The 32 teams in 2014 World Cup will represent five confederations and except hosts Brazil, have qualified through the qualification involving an `unrivalled` 204 nations from six confederations. The Trophy Earlier, between 1930 and 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy -- named after the FIFA president Jules Rimet -- was awarded to the winning team. This trophy was won outright by Brazil when in 1970, they won the competition for the third time. It was designed by French sculptor Abel Lafleur.

The present one, simply known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was chosen in 1970 from 53 models coming from seven countries. The 36 cm tall trophy of solid 18 carat gold was sculpted by Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga. This trophy cannot be won outright. Besides the winning team trophy, other awards are also presented for individual efforts. The Golden Ball, by far the best known among such awards, is meant for the best player of the tournament. The Silver Ball and the Bronze Ball are awarded to the second and third best players respectively. It is determined by a vote of media members. It was first awarded in 1982. The same year, the Golden Boot (also called the Golden Shoe) for the top goalscorer was introduced. But, retrospectively all the top scorers in the previous World Cup starting 1930 were accorded the same honour. The award for the best goalkeeper is called the Golden Glove Award. Formerly known as the Yashin Award after the Russian great, Lev Yashin, it is decided by the FIFA Technical Study Group. It was first awarded in 1994.

Players Brazil legend, Ronaldo scored a record 15 goals from 1998 to 2006. He is followed by Germany`s Miroslav Klose and West Germany`s Gerd Muller (1970–1974) with 14 goals each. France`s Just Fontaine scored a record 13 goals in a single World Cup in 1958. The Morrocon immigrant is also still the fourth highest goalscorer. Both Mexico`s Antonio Carbajal (1950–1966) and Germany`s Lothar Matthaus (1982–1998) have played in record five tournaments, with Matthaus holding the record for most appearances at 25. But the ultimate glory is with Pele, who lays claim to three World Cup winners` medals. He won the World Cup with Brazilian national team in 1958, 1962 and 1970. Brazil`s Mario Zagallo and West Germany`s Franz Beckenbauer are the only two players to have won the World Cup as both player and coach.

Zagallo won in 1958 and 1962 as a player and in 1970 as coach, while Beckenbauer won in 1974 as captain and in 1990 as coach. First Published: Monday, June 09, 2014, 13:19

Question: In which country was the 1934 Football World Cup held?
Answer: ITALY